The Touch
by Ray Lou
Summary: (prompt) Jamie ventures into Pitch's lair to find Jack and get him out, but he doesn't know exactly what he's supposed to do.


**Prompt:** It's up to Jamie to save Jack

For **elvenavari** on tumblr.

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Jamie's courage was running on empty. He had to get to Jack, but the dark interior of Pitch's lair made it hard to see where he was going or if he was even going anywhere. The cracked pillars he could make out stretched into infinity in front of him, curling as they followed the staircases that went up and down.

It was like a maze, and Jamie would never reach the end. The further he walked the more tangled he got in the puzzle of hallways and alleys, and the more redundant the décor was. He was sure this was the fourth time he passed the fallen pillar broken in three crooked pieces.

The Guardians had assured him there were other ways to get Jack back. They would get Jack back, Jamie was sure, but he wasn't sure that they would get him fast enough. They were Guardians, of the same realm as Pitch. They could touch him. He could touch them. Jamie was of the mortal realm. He couldn't touch Pitch. Pitch couldn't touch him – as long as he didn't truly believe in him.

Jamie's mission had never been clearly defined. It had only been described to him as "find Jack and get him out". Jamie wasn't in danger – shouldn't be anyways – so he shouldn't have felt frightened for both his life and Jack's.

Pitch could unleash an army of nightmares on Jamie, and all he would have to do was touch the dark sand and make it gold. Sandy could trace the gold sand to Pitch and get an exact location for the Guardians to jump in.

Finding the lair was easy for Jamie. With a little lucid dreaming he was able to conjure a portal to Pitch's lair in his dream. Technically he wasn't physically in the lair. The dream state of his body was there. What that meant, Jamie didn't exactly know, but it was real enough for him to make physical contact with Jack. He figured it was because his dream state was a spirit state in a way, just like the Guardians'.

He had hoped that his dream state would feel like a dream, but everything was vivid. From his senses to his surroundings, everything felt real. But outside this lair, Jamie was still fast asleep in his bed.

"Jamie Bennett? Is that you?" Pitch's voice came from everywhere. He laughed, a smooth confident sound that drained away more of Jamie's courage. There was nothing to be frightened about, Jamie told himself. Pitch couldn't touch him. Couldn't hurt him.

"Where's Jack?" At least Jamie sounded brave.

"He's not here."

Jamie caught a flash of movement in the darkest shadows. He went against his instinct and went towards it. "You're lying."

"I'm not. I let him go a while ago. About thirty minutes. There was no point in keeping him here when you appeared."

Fear prickled at Jamie's neck and the back of his knees.

"You're scared, Jamie. There's no need to be scared. After all, I can't touch you."

Shadows peeled off the pillars and rushed at Jamie. They congealed at his feet until they shot up with a blinding speed to form the tall shape of Pitch. Jamie could make out no face, just a shape of pitch black.

Fear rooted Jamie's feet. He tried to convince himself he was standing his ground.

The black mass circled him, its head looking Jamie up and down with slight tilts of its head. It touched Jamie's shoulder. _Touched_ his shoulder.

The mass split into hundreds of thing threads that shot back into the shadows. "Looks like I _can_ touch you," Pitch laughed.

Jamie ran.

He didn't even think.

He just ran.

He turned many corners, spotting the three piece fallen pillar again-

-and smacked into the chest of Jack.

"Jamie!" Jack held him close. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I came to get you! And now we have to go!" Jamie hauled Jack down the dark path by his wrist.

"There's no way out. I was looking for one." Jack swung Jamie onto his back and took to the air, flying them up, up, up, until the maze of pillars and staircases was a flat drawing underneath them. Past the pillars and staircases was a drop of level land. There were more pillars and staircases there. Along the tallest pillars – ones that towered over the rest – were clusters of cages. And beyond those were large decayed and crumbling buildings that were akin to those of a modern day city. "I've looked _everywhere_," Jack said.

"How'd you get out before?" Jamie scanned the scenery even though he knew any exit would be unseen from their height.

"There was a tunnel but I looked for it and it's not there anymore. I think Pitch makes them up when he wants. Like Bunny – _shit!_" Jack released his hold on the wind – or the wind released its hold on Jack – and they freefell.

During their fall, Jamie caught a glimpse of Pitch standing on the top of one of the taller pillars. His crooked smile stood out better than the rest of him.

Jamie felt himself losing his grip on Jack. He dug his nails into Jack's hoodie, squeezing his legs around Jack's waist tight enough to strain his muscles.

They came to a sudden stop meters above the ground, Jamie almost losing his grip on Jack; his head swarmed and his surroundings became faint before returning to its darkness. "How'd you get in?" Jack asked.

"Lucid dreaming." Jamie shook his head and the faint touch of dizziness on his mind escaped.

"Then wake up! You've got to get outta here."

Jamie shook his head, brushing his face against the soft back of Jack's neck. He inhaled Jack's chilly scent, praying it wouldn't be the last time he smelled it. "I'm not leaving you."

"Don't be stupid!"

Above their heads was a fast approaching mass of black. "I'm not stupid. I'm being smart." Jamie slapped Jack's shoulder and then dug his nails in as best he could with their blunt edges. "Ground, now!"

Jack did so, but not fast enough. The darkness accelerated to a speed fast enough to catch them before they touched the ground. It happened quickly, not at all slow like how Jamie had expected a deathly situation to be.

The last thing Jamie saw was black filling his vision.

The last thing he head was Jack's scream.

#

Jamie nearly flew off his bed in his panic. He stuffed his feet into his shoes and sprinted to the Burgess forest.

He tripped to a shaky stop at the frozen lake's shore, the cold air finally catching up to him and making his skin prickle with more than fear.

"Jack…" He sniffed and rubbed at his burning eyes until he could clear his mind of its frenzied thoughts.

He looked around the bordering trees for one of Bunny's tunnels. The opening always shifted a couple of meters every day for no reason other than to piss Jack off. Bunny knew that Jack hated too much change, and a little change every day ticked the winter spirit off to an almost humorous level.

Now it was frustrating Jamie as well. He found the opening and was about to stomp it open when a tendril of golden sand slid into his vision. It spun in spirals and then did a round around his head before continuing behind him.

He turned around. Sandy and Jack smiled at him.

"H-how?" Jamie threw himself into Jack's arms, almost whacking Sandy with his legs as Jack spun him around.

Jack nuzzled his nose into Jamie's neck. "You could at least sound glad that I'm alive," he murmured.

A sand image of a tombstone formed above Sandy's head. The little man struck a contemplative pose and stroked his chin.

Jack winced. "Ouch. No need to remind me."

Jamie ran his hands down Jack's arms, taking Jack's cold hands in his. "I was sure that Pitch got you. The shadows swarmed us and – and you screamed."

"It hurt a little. They got to me first and then you. When they got to you they turned into golden sand and that was enough for Sandy to locate the lair's current location." Jack slid his sleeve up and showed a deep bruise. "Felt like a group of Bunny's eggs took a bite out of me."

Sandy shook his head and a rapid sequence of images told them that the eggs did have mouths.

"So the Guardians saved you?" Jamie asked.

"Yup. Bunny even took a break from his egg painting. Probably just because it's part of Guardian duty to take care of the others."

Sandy rolled his eyes.

"Or maybe he just loves me," Jack finished with a smile.

"He can't. I already love you." Jamie kissed Jack.

Sandy leapt in the air and flew around the two, sprinkling them with golden sand. The sand collected at their feet and then shot into the sky, blowing up into sparkly fireworks shaped into hearts.

"Could you do that for us tonight? When we-"

Jamie punched Jack's bruise.

Jack shut up.


End file.
